The cracks in America’s ultra-strong labour market
With a big discrepancy in jobs data, the economy may be weaker than it seems
It is the million-person mystery, and its solution will help determine just how strong American growth truly is. According to an official survey of employers, America’s economy has added 1.2m jobs in net terms since the start of the year. But a separate survey of households paints a completely different picture: that the country has in fact shed about 100,000 jobs over the same time period.
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This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “The missing million”
Finance & economics June 15th 2024
- Donald Trump’s trade hawk is plotting behind bars
- Rumours of the trade deal’s death are greatly exaggerated
- China is distorting its stockmarket by trying to prop it up
- The cracks in America’s ultra-strong labour market
- China’s currency is not as influential as once imagined
- Has private credit’s golden age already ended?
- Does motherhood hurt women’s pay?
From the June 15th 2024 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
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Trump wastes no time in reigniting trade wars
Canada and Mexico look likely to suffer
How Trump, Starmer and Macron can avoid a debt crunch
With deficits soaring, their finance ministers will have to be smart
What Scott Bessent’s appointment means for the Trump administration
The president-elect’s nominee for treasury secretary faces a gruelling job
What Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders get wrong about credit cards
Forget interest rates. Rewards are the real problem
Computers unleashed economic growth. Will artificial intelligence?
Two years after ChatGPT-3.5 arrived, progress has been slower than expected
Should investors just give up on stocks outside America?
No, but it is getting a lot harder to keep the faith